


Slow and Steady, My Heart Beats

by SleepingInTheMeadow



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:54:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26218216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepingInTheMeadow/pseuds/SleepingInTheMeadow
Summary: Mary Margaret is a second-year surgical resident who seems to have fallen under the bad graces of the beautiful Dr. Regina Mills, the hospital’s new Chief of Pediatric Surgery.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard
Kudos: 3





	1. Off To A Great Start

**Author's Note:**

> I know what you’re thinking, and no, this is not Grey's Anatomy or any crossover, or at least I’m trying not to make it like that. It will hopefully be alike to it, but hopefully no Major Character Deaths (of people working in the hospital), and hopefully not as many romances/drama as there are. That being said, I just really wanted to try it out. I’m also not a doctor, but I really want to be one, so bear with me, as I know next to nothing. Please send feedback and I hope you enjoy!

Mary Margaret

Whatever happens, I told myself, I wouldn’t be late for my first day as a resident. So instead of setting my alarm for a reasonable time to be awake, with a little bit of leeway, like a normal person would, I set my alarm to wake me up at an unreasonable five-thirty, so I could have breakfast, brush my teeth, get dressed, then wait for an hour and a half until I left. And then wait for another fifteen minutes in the hospital parking lot until everyone else was arriving.

I walked in and immediately caught sight of David in the elevator, chatting with another resident.

"David, hold the door," I called. He held his arm out just in time to catch the door. I bolted in and squished between them and a few more people in the elevator.

"Hi," I said breathily.

"Hey," he answered, then went back into his conversation with Graham. I immediately fled the confining metal space once the doors opened and ran straight for the locker room. Someone was just leaving the Chief's office, right in my way. I couldn’t stop, and I collided with their left side.

I went down with her, a flurry of papers scattered around us, floating slowly to the ground, and coffee spilled on the both of us. I heard her grumble beside me as I swept her coffee off my cheek. Her white blouse was sopping wet with the dark liquid.

"I am _so sorry,_ Ma'am, I didn't see where I was going…"

"You should be," she answered coldly. My eyes drifted up where she was knelt, gathering papers in her manicured hands. My eyes drifted to her face, to deathly dark eyes, plump and taught red lips, and straight, jet-black hair. I don’t believe in love at first sight, but if it existed, this would be as close as it can get. I gathered her papers with her, until someone walked by.

Killian was smirking at me.

"Klutz," he muttered, chuckling to himself and walking away. I glared at the back of his head and helped her gather the rest of her papers.

"Watch where you’re going next time," she said. I nodded hurriedly and scrambled back up to my feet. I didn’t recognize her, but maybe she was the new attending from John's Hopkins? Time will only tell, I guess.

When I got to the locker room, Killian was in the middle of telling people I ran into Dr. Mills on accident. It _was_ the new attending! I berated myself internally and got changed out of my coffee-stained t-shirt as I avoided the pointed glance from Killian.

"It was an accident," I said casually,"I was running and _she_ put herself in front of _me."_ Killian scoffed and clipped his pager to the waistband of his scrubs. I pulled my own shirt on as David patted me on the back sympathetically.

"I don’t need your pity," I said to him earnestly, in contrast to the laughs bubbling out of my mouth. He laughed with me and waited until I finished changing, then we left the locker room together to find the interns we got assigned to.

David and I stopped outside the intern change rooms, talking with everyone else and flicking anyone on the arm who called me a klutz. The interns stood patiently at the door, waiting for their assignments. I pulled out my pocket notebook and flipped through the endless notes, until I stumbled upon my intern list.

"Crouse, Lane, Olsen, Lindstrom, Riddel, your with me," I called out. Three guys and two girls burst through the crowd of people to follow me."

"I am Dr. Blanchard, I am your resident for your internship. This is all pretty simple, so listen. All of your mistakes are reflected on me, so do me a favour, don’t make them? I love my beauty sleep, so be prepared for the grumpiest resident you'll ever come across if you wake me up. Do not waste my time, and I hope you’re great at keeping up, because I run. Everywhere." I said the last part sweetly.

"She does," Emma said to them,"she ran into the new Pediatric's Attending this morning. They don’t call you the Flash for nothing!" They all chuckled, and I punched her on the arm.

"Shut up. I’m trying to teach the impressionable minds," I said. She chuckled again and led the interns into the Pit. I rarely covered the ER, I much prefer pediatrics, and the pediatrics surgeon last year _loved_ me. His retirement was one of the best events I’ve been to. But then again, I hated college parties.

I pushed back the doors to the pediatric's ward, watching the intern's eyes light up for the first time. I remember last year when I first saw the OR, the pediatric's ward, and the children in it. I lead them to the nurses station, where a nurse handed me my first case as a resident. I smiled and turned around, but instead of finding my way to the child's room, Dr. Mills was in front of me, arms crossed too close for comfort, as her nose was nearly brushing mine. The interns all giggled behind me, while I felt blood rush to my cheeks.

"I’m assuming _you’re_ the resident on my specialty today?"

"Y-yes." She took the case from me and grabbed an entire other stack of case files. I followed her to a room, where a small girl was sitting covered in blankets much bigger than she was. As soon as Dr. Mills walked into the room, she softened and smiled softly at the girl. She handed the file to me.

"Angela Dickson, three, has been diagnosed with a large ventricular septal defect after visiting the ER with shortness of breath, an abnormal heart rate, and paleness."

"Because it's the residents first day, I’ll give them a pass on this one. What is a ventricular septal defect, Dr. Blanchard?"

"It is a birth defect, where there is a hole in the septum, which separates the left and right ventricles. It causes the oxygenated and deoxygenated blood to mix in her ventricles and up to her lungs."

"Good. Course of treatment?"

"We will perform ventricular septal defect surgery, which is a minimally invasive procedure using cardiac catheterization."

"What does that mean," Angela asked, poking her head up out of the covers.

"It means we're gonna put a tiny little tube in your chest to fix the hole in your heart." Her eyes widened. "Don’t worry. You will be awake, but we can give you stuff so you don’t feel anything," Dr. Mills said warmly.

"Anything? Even if you touched my _heart?"_

_"_ You won’t feel a thing," she said. Angela nodded and sank down on her bed, biting her lip.

"Thank you so much, Dr. Mills," a woman, her mother, said. Regina nodded and folded up the binder, smiling to the girl before she left. She put the binder back into my arms.

"You’re scrubbing in, Dr. Blanchard." I smiled a small smile and turned to the residents following behind me.

"You. What's your name?" I pointed to the shortest one of the bunch, a girl with dirty blonde hair and eyes that looked almost grey. Everytime I turned to her, she was smiling.

"Dr. Lindstrom."

"You’re Smiley from now on. Smiley, go book an OR please." Her face dropped the smile for a second, and the residents snickered.

Regina handed Angela's case file to the nurse before continuing on. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

"How was working for the Evil Queen," Killian asked. We were in the cafeteria, taking a much-needed lunch break. My eyes swept through the cafeteria for her, but I couldn’t find her. I snapped back into reality.

"The Evil Queen?"

"I heard that's what everyone was calling her."

"Really? She isn’t _that_ evil."

"'Cause you like her."

"Do _not."_ Everyone looked at me skeptically. "Guys, I don’t like the Evil Queen!" Everyone's eyes were popping out of their skulls. "What?"

"Thank God, the feeling is mutual," she shot back icily. I gulped and turned to watch her sashay to the attending's table, sitting with Dr. Lapis, but everyone just called her Blue. I groaned and laid my head on my folded arms, sitting on the table.

I thought she was being cold _before._ Now she's just ignoring me.

"Prep Angela for surgery, then scrub in," she said frigidly. I nodded and watched her leave. I snapped out of my daze and heard a chuckle from a nurse before heading into Angela's room.

"Alrighty, are you ready for surgery?" The girl looked at me and pouted. I smiled at her before taking the lock off the wheels on her bed. I lowered the top of her bed down until it was completely horizontal.

"I don’t want to do it," she said quietly.

"Why not? You'll be able to breath easier. You can play outside as much as you want, now."

"Really?"

"Yes. But you have to do this first. I know you can, you are so brave. You just have to do this, and then you can go home after a little bit." Her smile immediately matched mine.

"Okay then!"

"Alright then, hold on!" She tilted her head, but squealed when I pulled the cart out of her room.

"Faster, faster!" I giggled and shook my head.

"We can’t go faster, we could run into something. You can’t shout in here. People are sleeping."

"Why are they sleeping? It’s daytime!"

"I know, but they’re very tired, so they have to have naps."

"Ohhh. I get it. They take naps like me."

"Exactly like you." I pushed the cart through the _'employees only_ ' doors and into OR 2. Dr. Mills was waiting, with the scrub nurses and anesthesiologist.

"Alright Angela, are you ready?"

"Yup!" Dr. Mills glanced over at me before looking onto her sweet little face.

"That’s good," she said. "You’re very brave. I don’t think I could do it!"

"Yeah you can! Everyone can!" Dr. Mills laughed and tilted her head, locking eyes with the three-year-old's and then at mine. Her gaze was warmer this time, and it almost looked hospitable. I smiled.

"Did Dr. Blanchard take care of you?"

"Yeah, she's really pretty."

"She is, isn’t she," Dr. Mills asked her. I blushed and rolled her cart close to the table. "Go scrub in, Blanchard." I went into the scrub room and watched the scrub nurses ready her groin, the anesthesiologist inject her with medication, just as the scrub nurses rubbed on her what I could only guess was lidocaine. I put on my scrub cap, my mask, and I washed my hands before pulling on gloves.

"Are you okay," Regina asked. The little girl bit her lip and shut her eyes, nodding. I stood beside Regina, watching her eyes flash with something akin to excitement. I smiled under my mask.

"Sheath catheter," her voice boomed. My heart fluttered. Maybe _I_ need a cardiac catheterization. I watched her confidently manoeuvre it under her skin and perfectly into her blood vessel, before handing me the catheter.

"Me?"

"Yes. You're the only other surgical resident in the room." I blushed and thanked the heavens my mask covered my cheeks and absolutely loved her presence behind me, perfecting my technique.

"You have a hat with butterflies," Angela said to me.

"I do. Did you see Dr. Mills? She has zebra stripes."

"Really? I wanna see!" Regina laughed and moved closer to her, where the girl's eyes glimmered in awe.

"Wow!" I laughed and redirected the catheter. I hoped this would be a start to many surgeries with Regina. I couldn’t mess it up any further with her, or I may not have a chance in Pediatrics. For my sake, I needed to push down these unwelcome but very happy feelings. I just hoped they wouldn’t push back.


	2. Outbreak on Elm Street

I peeled off my gloves and checked the clock. Dr. Mills came in right behind me, smiling at the little girl being wheeled back to her room by Smiley.

"Good work today, Dr. Blanchard. I think you'll do good in Peds," she commented.

"You don’t hate me?"

"I never said that," she chuckled and dried her hands. She took off her scrub cap and locked her dark, tantalizing eyes on mine. I nearly crumbled on the spot. "It seems like your work is done for today. Are you on-call tonight?"

"No, I think it's Dr. Nolan and Dr. Lucas."

"Very well, then." I smiled at her and watched her leave the scrub room. Forcing my legs to move, I made my way to the locker room, while Regina updated Angela's parents, as well as dealt with her file.

August and Emma were changing when I walked in.

"Hey, we were gonna go for a drink. You up for it?" Emma asked. I nodded my head and pulled my scrubs off.

"Sure. Where are we going."

"The Wayland, on ninth street."

"Gotcha, see you there." Emma sauntered out of the room, with August not far behind. I slipped my boots on and fumbled for my car keys. I nearly tripped once I got out of the elevator, and Regina was watching me near the door. Her eyes glowered at me, but quickly lit up when she saw me stumble.

"Careful, Blanchard, don’t want to spill anyone's coffee." I snickered to myself, despite her snappy insult.

"Goodnight, Dr. Mills," I said tiredly. I didn’t hear her respond as I left, but I felt her eyes on me as I climbed into my station wagon.

I didn’t bother changing my clothes, and just pulled up to the curb. August and Emma were already waiting for me there, along with Killian and Kathryn.

"Hi," I breathed, before collapsing into the seat beside Kathryn. Killian had his hand resting under his chin, with his pinky rested on his lips and a flirtatious smirk forming on his lips.

"You wish," I said, then turned to Emma.

"So, how's the boy toy," I asked coyly. She rolled her eyes.

"He’s fine, now can you not call him a boy toy? We are _way_ past the 'boy toy' stage." Kathryn laughed and struck up a conversation with August. The waiter dropped off everyone's drinks and took the order for mine, probably internally cringing when Kathryn talked about the plastics surgery she watched Dr. Whale perform.

Killian could see me daydreaming. I’m more surprised that nobody else could tell. I haven’t tried to hide it, nor will I ever.

"So how's the Evil Queen? Your type?"

"God Killian, stop it already. She isn’t evil, she's just…intimidating."

"I think you’re wrong on that front. I heard an intern quit when she yelled at him."

"Well, then he shouldn’t have made a mistake. And you should see her with the kids. She's amazing with them. You should take lessons from her." August spit his beer on the table and laughed.

"I’m just teasing you, Blanchard. Not my fault you've got a little crush." I blushed once more as everyone

'Ooh-ed' like we were in fifth grade.

"You’re all so mature."

"But you’re not denying it," Emma pressed. I rolled my eyes and the waiter came too late. I swigged my beer and thanked the Gods that Belle chose that time to arrive.

"Hey guys," she said in her adorable accent. We waved her down and she sat beside me, looking down at the table and smiling.

"If I didn’t know any better, you look smitten," Killian commented to her. Belle looked up and almost looked guilty. Almost.

"I’m not smitten, I just got off work."

"With Ruby?" Belle looked really guilty now. She chuckled to herself.

"Did she finally ask you out?" I asked curiously.

"Finally? What do mean finally?"

"She's been fawning over you for _weeks._ Don’t tell me you haven’t _noticed,"_ Emmacut in.

"I can’t say I have." The table joined in a collective groan.

"Everyone's noticed. Even Mary Margaret. She's the thickest-skulled woman I’ve ever met when it comes to this stuff," August said.

"Thanks," I muttered back. August laughed.

"No problem. But she _did_ ask you out, right?"

"Yes, she did," Belle caved. Everyone smiled, and Killian high-waved her.

"Don’t get too excited, Killian, I didn’t _sleep_ with her."

"A win's a win," he remarked, before sipping his whiskey.

The broke out into many conversations, but I couldn’t think properly right now. Well, I _could,_ just not anything worth talking about. I shook my head and gulped down my beer. I waved over the waiter for another. My sight was blurring around the edges, but I got drunk fairly easily.

* * *

Dr. Mills looked extremely stressed. The flu broke out all over the city, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say she had it herself. She was near-sweating, pale, and went for a water break every ten seconds. I didn’t blame her, though. I didn’t think the flu would break out in late September, but it makes sense. The air was growing cooler and we got a little dusting of snow last week, which quickly melted away.

"Dr. Mills, you need to rest," I instructed kindly. "You’re clearly sick. Or stressed to a point of physical symptoms." She ignored me and walked to another room to tend to another newly-admitted child. I followed her into the room where she bit back a cough and tended to the boy. I followed her back outside and watched her pace back and forth.

"Everyone is needed here, and that includes me," she dismissed. I pulled on her arm.

"Yes, everyone is needed to fight the flu, which is the exact ailment _you_ have, so let the hospital fight the sickness, and fight it yourself. Okay? You need to be admitted."

"I don’t need to be admitted, I’m staying hydrated, and I’m doing fine."

"For the last time, Dr. Mills, you’re sick, and when people are sick, you admit them into the hospital. You of all people should know that."

"What about the sick-"

"I’ll take care of the children. You'll take care of one of the most talented surgeons in this hospital. I got this, go." Regina slumped her shoulders and grumbled.

"I’ll have your head for this," she mumbled, handing over the stack of files in her hands.

"I wouldn’t expect anything less," I retorted. She chuckled and smiled, before heading for the stairwell. I pulled myself out of my daze and rushed into room 387.

"Alright, who do we have here?" I asked. A girl was fidgeting in her bed, trying to kick off the covers. "You’re gonna need these. In about, five-ish minutes, you’re gonna feel really cold and ask for the blankets, and then you’re going to get hot after, and then cold. So how about we keep them on?" The girl looked up at me and nodded sincerely.

By the end of the day, my scrubs were covered in vomit, I wasn't feeling too good, and my feet hurt. And I still have the night to take care of.

When I came into Regina's room, she was about to fall asleep, but flicked her eyes open when I opened her door. I set down a cup of coffee on the table in front of her.

"What's this?" she asked.

"This is for the coffee I spilled yesterday." She chuckled and took a small sip. "How are you feeling," I asked.

"Like crap. You don’t look so good either," she said slyly.

"I know. I’m still on-call," I muttered. I sat down in the chair beside her bed.

"Not for long, it seems. I think you might have to get admitted."

"I may have to. At least I’m not _denying_ it," I replied, raising my eyebrows accusingly. She chuckled.

"Did you get everything under control?"

"Essentially. I needed a lot of help from the nurses, but I managed."

"I’m not sure how we'd live without nurses," Regina said quietly. I nodded.

"I'm gonna go get some sleep while I can," I said. She nodded.

"You’re not gonna stay here?" She asked coquettishly.

"I might have to get you on drugs like this more often," I blurted. She immediately looked up at me and smirked. "I mean, I have to go," I stumbled. She chuckled and I shut her door, nearly running to the nearest on-call room. I flopped onto the couch and fell asleep with ease.

My pager was what woke me after an hour. It was a call to the ER. I pulled myself up, wiped the drool running down my cheek, and straightened my lab coat before sprinting down the stairwell to the first floor.

I waited outside in the bitter cold before the ambulance pulled up, paramedics scrambling out of the cab.

"Courtney, 33, was stabbed twice in the abdomen. The cops are at the scene and they have caught the perp, but they'll be here to interview her," the paramedic bit out. I nodded and helped pull the gurney inside.

"Trauma room one," I ordered. Kathryn watched us pull the gurney through.

"Need help," she asked.

"No, I’ve got Dr. Humbert in the trauma room." We loaded Courtney onto the table and Dr. Humbert checked her heart rate, while I lifted her bloodied shirt to face the wounds. I peeled off the gauze covering her belly.

"Not very deep, but I’m not sure if the knife nicked her liver."

"Alright, you got this?"

"What? You’re the trauma attending, I-"

"You can do it. You'll have to get a retractor to see if the liver was damaged." I nodded and took a deep breath, while Dr. Humbert hung the IV and poked it into her arm.

"Army-navy retractor," I called. Someone handed me the retractor and I squinted to see the liver.

"We're good, her liver's fine."

"Alright then, Dr. Blanchard. You’re ready to stitch her up. Great work."

"Thank you," I said, as I put the retractor on the metal tray behind me and pulled up a seat to the table to get her stitches done. I had completely forgot about my possible flu, until my headache hit. I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them, never moving my hand an inch, before finishing her up.

I didn’t get called to anything in the ER for the rest of the night, so I made my way back to Regina's room. Dr. Mills was asleep, but I curled up in the chair near her bed.

When I woke up again, sunlight was shining through the blinds, and Dr. Mills's knuckles were pressing against my forehead.

"Well, Dr. Blanchard, I’m afraid you’re gonna have be admitted," she said seriously.

"Dammit," I groaned. She chuckled hoarsely, and it’s quickly becoming my favourite sound.

"We can be flu-buddies," she said sarcastically. I snickered and got up to admit myself. I didn’t have to go very far, because a nurse took one look at me and led me off to the room right beside Regina's.

"Thanks Johanna," I said as I sipped a glass of water. She laughed and ran off to get someone to check me out.

"Hey," Belle said sympathetically, "I get to be your doctor," she joked. I smiled and shivered. She chuckled and gave me the same check-up I gave sick children twenty-four hours ago. Just my luck, I thought.


	3. Unfortunate Timing

I spent nearly all my time in the pediatrics ward since Regina came. They say that when you’re doing your residency, you should keep an open mind and try out each of the different specialties. Everyone who says that is very wrong. Especially when you have a thing for your superior. I learned so much from Regina. She's an absolute genius, and she's incredible with the children. What more could you ask for?

My alarm began blaring loudly, and I jumped, while reaching my fist out to hit the snooze button. It was a weekend, but I always jogged in the mornings. I rolled off the bed very slowly and rubbed my eyes. I made my way to my dresser to fish out my jogging pants and a t-shirt. I pulled them on and grabbed a granola bar before rushing out the door with a pair of headphones wrapped loosely over my shoulders.

I took a bite of my granola bar and put my earbuds in, while quickening my pace to a light jog. I usually jogged a few times around the block, but I wanted to change it up a bit and go to the park. I heard they had a good path to run on, and I haven’t tried it out today. It was a nice morning, and I could use a run in the park.

I turned a corner and ran on the cement path going through a thicket of trees. I passed a few runners, and some children with their parents. I was nearing a fork in the path, and I went left.

I saw another runner nearing me, and they looked familiar. The short brown hair, tan skin, maybe from the hospital? I couldn’t figure it out until she came closer and I ducked to the other path.

"Shit," I muttered to myself. I sprinted to the next corner so she couldn’t see me through the trees. I stopped at the corner and pulled out my earbuds and listened for footsteps on the other path. When I heard a pair of fast-moving feet pass by, I ran back up the path and turned to the left. I wiped my forehead and continued on.

Fifteen minutes later, I shut the door quietly and watched someone patter around the kitchen. They probably didn’t hear me.

"Damn it," I heard them exclaim, and I immediately knew it was Emma. she was juggling a pan and pieces of bread. I chuckled and toed off my shoes, while listening to her various curses.

"Hi Emma," I said. she turned and smiled at me.

"Hey, I’m making eggs and toast," she answered. I nodded and ducked behind my curtains to change before going back downstairs. I pulled on a pair of skinny jeans and a cream knit sweater and pulled back the curtains. This time, there were two blondes in the kitchen. Kathryn nodded to me and I waved back, sitting down across from her.

"I made you cocoa," she said smugly, while bringing her own mug of coffee to her lips. I cocked an eyebrow. "Yes, I got your cinnamon." She passed me a mug filled with hot chocolate, with whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon. I smiled graciously, and she smiled back. Emma walked around the table and set down plates in front of us.

"Bon appetit!" She exclaimed. I laughed.

"Looks great," I said earnestly. Kathryn agreed.

"This is why _I_ cook," she said proudly. "Mary Margaret can’t cook a bowl of cereal."

"I can cook," I protested. Both women giggled over their pieces of toast. "I can!"

"Make supper for tonight, then," Kathryn slyly challenged. Emma laughed once more.

"Deal." I reached across the table to shake Kathryn's hand. Emma's eyes lit up excitedly.

"You know, Mary Margaret, I think I’m craving fettuccini alfredo, but with homemade sauce," Emma said.

"Ooh, with chicken," Kathryn added.

"And sautéd vegetables." I rolled my eyes.

"Hardy har har, we're having packaged perogies and precooked sausages." Kathryn and Emma turned to each other, and for a second, the apartment was silent. Then they both broke down laughing and high-fived each other, before looking back at me, still laughing.

"It was worth a shot," Emma said, out of breath. I rolled my eyes and stabbed my egg. I waited until they stopped giggling to tell them about my run.

"Oh, when I was running, I saw Regina."

"From the hospital? Why was she out?"

"On a run too."

"Oh, so you talked to her," Kathryn asked.

"…not exactly." I sipped my cocoa, as Emma and Kathryn eyed me skeptically.

"Then how did you know she was running?"

"Because I saw her running towards me."

"So…she was running towards you, and you didn’t talk to you? Did she notice you?"

"No."

"How? You’ve been on her specialty for two weeks, you brag about how amazing she is in surgery all the time, how can she not recognize you?"

"Because she didn’t see me." Both of her were looking at me like I had four heads. "Because I hid from her. Behind a bush." Instead of worrying for my mental health, they were laughing again, and Emma wiped her eyes for a second.

"You've got it _that bad_ for her, huh?" Kathryn laughed again, but much more daintily than Emma's howling and snorting. I nearly imploded into myself in embarrassment, and my blush didn’t go unnoticed.

"You know, it’s always awkward when you run into a coworker outside work, and I didn’t want to…to do that?" I ended my sentence uneasily. They stopped laughing and looked at me sympathetically.

"If you like her that bad, ask the Evil Queen out," Emma said, gulping down her coffee.

"But what if she's straight. Or married. Or doesn’t like me like that. Or all three?"

"Then you can find out by asking her," Emma said.

"She's right," Kathryn said professionally. "You'll never know unless you directly ask her."

"But I don’t want to. I’m just fine _admiring_ from afar."

"You should. You be even better than fine if things go well."

"And if they don’t? Then I’ll blow my chance at a brilliant pediatric surgeon and I’ll be stuck with general or something."

"Hey," Emma said.

"Not that there's anything _wrong_ with general, I just like the kids more." Emma chuckled and nodded.

"Just ask her. Like ripping off a bandaid." I cringed.

"You know we're all doctors, right? We aren’t _supposed_ to rip off a bandage," I said matter-of-factly. Kathryn rolled her eyes, but Emma clearly loved my joke.

"You know what I mean." I nodded and looked down at my empty plate and mug. They had good insights, but my job comes first. My job almost _always_ comes first.

I pulled my scrubs on and listened to August's bar fight story. Today was a big day; Dr. Mills promised me a big surgery that I would do completely by myself, start to finish. I was excited, and that was without my caffeine kick. I was nearly bouncing around the room when I finally got my scrub top over my ears.

"Eager, are we Blanchard," Killian teased.

"I have a big surgery today," I bragged.

"Lucky. Whale won't give me anything but tests and scans," Ruby grumbled.

"That's what you get when you work under the most arrogant man alive," David said. I laughed.

"Blanchard would've run enemas too if she didn’t completely suck up to the Evil Queen. She's full of herself, that's for sure," Killian said.

"I don’t suck up," I said,"I’m just a joy to teach." Emma chuckled. "And Mills isn’t full of herself, she has a ignt to be. She's kinda brilliant, unlike a few people in this room."

"Oh, I’ve spent a few days with her, Killian's kinda right," August admitted. I rolled my eyes dramatically.

"Think whatever you want, she's nice," I said. If timing was ever perfect, I would've laughed. Regina poked her head into the change room.

"Hurry it up, Blanchard, or are you _quite literally_ running away from me again," Regina said harshly. The room fell silent, but Killian and August were smirking.

"I told you so," Killian muttered, before pocketing his penlight and rushing out the door. I grumbled and felt my previous excitement leave as fast as everyone else.

My interns were outside waiting for me eagerly, nearly skipping up and down at the prospect of a fulfilling work day. They're going to be quite disappointed today.

"Dr. Blanchard, I was wondering if I could switch-"

"-No, you’re not switching with a peer, and no, pediatrics is not boring." I heard all my interns running to try and follow me, but I was nearly stomping all the way to the stairwell.

"Dr. Blanchard, are you okay," Purple asked. Purple was the nickname I gave an intern when she asked me to call her Violet.

"You all can thank Dr. Mills for my mood today," I said, and I was again stopped by Dr. Mills in my face.

"Care to explain _why_ you’re in such a foul mood?" I stopped and shook my head. I heard giggling behind me, and both Dr. Mills and I silenced them quickly. "No? You’re not going to talk about how I embarrassed you in front of your buddies, because you ran _away from me?_ " I shook my head ground my teeth together. "Alright then. We've got patients to see." I grumbled and followed her up to the Pediatrics Ward.

She didn’t take away my surgery, even if I was glaring at her back when we weren’t visiting patients, which I was grateful for. It was a good one, a kidney transplant for a six-year-old. His teenage brother donated his kidney, and that was one of the kindest things I've witnessed in Pediatrics, but I don’t doubt that it will be the last, or the greatest.

I peeled off my gloves and grabbed the bar soap off the counter. Dr. Mills came in behind me, and was washing her hands beside me.

"Why do you insist on humiliating me to every living soul in this hospital," I demanded her. She scoffed.

"I like making you squirm," she answered simply.

"I really hate you," I threw at her. She didn’t even flinch.

"I’m aware of that, and yet, you not only keep coming back, but you're still gushing over me when I have my back turned. Why is that?"

"I didn’t answer her, I just grabbed a sheet of paper towel, dried my hands, and threw it into the garbage angrily, before turning back to her.

"What was your endgame here? To torture me or something?" She looked like she was thinking about it.

"I was just messing with you."

"Bullshit," I growled. She rolled her eyes.

"You, my dear, are the one who ran away from _me_ on Saturday," she growled forcefully. I audibly swallowed back a lump in my throat, but I didn’t back down from her deadly glare. "Why did you run away from me anyway?"

"Well, it’s always awkward, you know, seeing your boss outside work, and I didn’t want to make it awkward. I think."

"You think?" She raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Why do I have to explain it to you, you already know…you know, are you happy now?"

"What do I _apparently_ know, Dr. Blanchard?" I rolled my eyes.

"God, Regina, I like you. Dr. Swan would say I had the hots for you, whatever. Okay? Can you just refrain from embarrassing me in front of my friends, and my _interns?"_ I was yelling by the time I finished, and she was smirking now. Apparently, that was _exactly_ what she wanted to hear. I stomped out of the scrub room and looked at the clock. It was only ten. I grumbled and rubbed my eyes, before taking a deep breath and making my way to the waiting room, where the family of both boys were waiting.


	4. Spoonful of Sugar

I shouldn’t have told Regina what I did in the scrub room. Even if she could read between the lines before, she was smug all day. Even with the children, she didn’t hesitate when egging me on, just a little bit; not enough to be a sufficient complaint to Dr. Gold. I didn’t mind her sometimes, but at other times, she would be absolutely ruthless. Just last week, she told me that ‘toddlers don’t get medical degrees, so I needed to leave the OR,’ because I almost filed the wrong case and performed a colonoscopy instead of a tonsillectomy.

Kathryn and Emma repeatedly expressed their sympathy’s, while still trying to convince me to ask her out. I almost did, until a small toddler and a man named Robin asked to see her. After a bit of investigation, she’s married to him and has a stepson. I was a bit heartbroken, but I acted nonchalant when telling Kathryn and Emma about it.

Today, though, was lucky. Dr. Mills was having a good day, meaning _I_ was having a good day, meaning my interns weren’t afraid of me for now. I wasn’t working late today, and David had asked me out tonight. I didn’t know what to expect, but if I didn’t feel comfortable on the date, I would tell him. I’m not planning on using him to get over Dr. Mills. I could do that myself.

Today, we didn’t have very many surgeries scheduled, just one big one. A ten-year-old boy was getting his brain tumor removed, with very high chance of success. Even with those high chances, Regina was only going to let me assist. I still haven’t performed any brain surgeries on my own yet, but I understand why; something simple can go wrong if you so much as move a quarter of an inch to where you aren’t supposed to. I didn’t even trust myself.

I was tasked with prepping the patient and performing his final brain scan before the surgery. The boy wasn’t normally talkative, but he was so excited to leave the hospital, he told me about everything he planned on doing. He was the reason I wanted so many kids.

After looking over his scans, we prepped him for surgery and marked out where his incision would go. The interns wheeled him into the OR, while I donned my gown and scrub cap. Regina met me in the scrub room and asked if I was ready to make another child happy.

“Hell yeah,” I replied. “This is the reason I _do_ this.”

“Really?”

“Well, yeah. I love seeing the patients and families happy.” Regina watched me for longer than comfortable and squinted slightly, like she was analyzing me for something. Then she dried her hands and left. I did the same and pulled on my gloves as the boy on the table bounced excitedly.

“Alright, are you ready?”

“Yes yes yes!” He exclaimed excitedly, still bouncing.

“The only way we’re gonna get your tumour removed is if you sit still and let the nurses help you,” Dr. Mills instructed lightly. He sat still and looked away as the nurses inserted more IVs into his arm and the anesthesiologist fiddled with the anesthesia machine.

A thrilling jolt ran up my spine. I loved everything about pediatrics, but I think the neuro cases are my favourite. I snapped out of my ecstatic thoughts and joined Regina beside the table, watching him count down from ten with the mask over his face. I could see the happiness glimmering in Dr. Mills chocolate-y eyes as she looked right back at me and grinned behind her mask. I smiled back at her and turned to the now-sleeping boy.

“Alright then, let’s get to work,” Regina announced. “Number ten scalpel.” A nurse handed her the scalpel and Dr. Mills made her precise incision.

After Dr. Mills let me finish stitching the boy’s incision, Sickly, one of my interns, and a nurse took him to his room, while Dr. Mills and I scrubbed out. When Regina removed her mask, she was smirking.

“You were amazing in there! I don’t know how you got all that blood under control in so little time, but you were brilliant,” I gushed to her. Her smirk grew bigger and morphed into a grin.

“I know,” Dr. Mills said. “I’m the reason you stay in Pediatrics.” A sharp burst of laughter escaped my mouth.

“I’m afraid you’re mistaken,” I told her. “I come here for the children.”

“I don’t play a part in any of it?”

“Well, you’re a brilliant surgeon, but you’re not the reason I love Peds.”

“Not even a little bit?” Dr. Mills’s bottom lip jutted and her eyes looked big and watery. I smiled and rolled my eyes.

“Fine. Just a little bit,” I said. She grinned and cackled, before drying her wet hands and leaving. I followed her out to tell the boy’s family of the successful surgery.

Afterwards, we didn’t have any patients, so we both found a spot to sit on while I dismissed my interns to find surgeries. Dr. Mills pulled two granola bars out of the pocket on her coat and handed me one. I thanked her and unwrapped the plastic.

“So your stepson is cute,” I said to make conversation.

“Excuse me?”

“A few days ago, I saw your stepson in the lobby. He’s adorable.”

“His name is Roland, and he isn’t my stepson.”

“Aren’t you—“

“—he’s my boyfriend. Not my husband.” Regina held up her ringless left ring finger and wiggled it in the air.

“Oh. I just thought that you never wore the ring.” She shook her head and mumbled something before biting into her granola bar. We sat in a comfortable silence and watched the hospital bustle around. Nurses running through the halls, gurneys being rushed into the elevator, and doctors nearly running into one another with their case charts taking their attention. It was chaos, but it was home.

After sitting down for about a half hour, my work day was over and Dr. Mills and I parted ways to our separate locker rooms. David, Kathryn, and Ruby were in the changing room when I walked in, David already dressed in a spotless shirt and black suit pants.

“Aren’t you looking spiffy,” I complemented him. He grinned at me and pulled a suit jacket out of the locker.

“Only ‘cause his mom washes all his clothes,” Ruby chuckled. David threw his pen light at Ruby and adjusted the jacket.

“I don’t have a washing machine in my apartment and she lives ten minutes away. I’d rather have it done for free then pay for it,” David argued. Ruby snickered and left. I pulled out the dress I had brought for tonight: a navy blue sleeveless dress with a V-back.

“You look beautiful,” David said earnestly. I smiled back shyly and walked with him out of the locker room and down the main stairs to the entrance. I spotted Regina leaving the elevator.

“See you tomorrow, Dr. Mills,” I called to her. She smiled at me, but her face fell quickly and moved back to looking at her phone. I furrowed my eyebrows and held David’s elbow tighter. He led me to his car and opened the door for me. I climbed in and he shut the door behind me. He got in after me and started the car, pulling away as Regina’s receding, slumping form met my eyes.

* * *

David parked outside the restaurant and opened and closed the door for me. The restaurant was an expensive-looking Italian place that opened a few weeks ago. It looked fancy on the outside, and was even fancier on the inside. My wallet was gonna hurt after this one, I thought.

When we were waiting for a table, we talked about work and how we didn’t like having the interns around.

“How’s Hopper and the broken bones?” I asked him. He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s okay, but I think I wanna try Neuro. How’s the Evil Queen and the sick children?”

“Seriously, you too?” David snickered and flashed me a charming, toothy smile. “She isn’t evil, she’s nice when she isn’t pestering you, and the sick children are adorable as always.”

“Lucky. I thought of trying Peds last year, but you’ve claimed Dr. Mills already.”

“I didn’t claim her. You’re free to try out Peds too, there’s always room for ‘angels of the sick children.’”

“Angels?”

“Yeah, a little girl called me her angel yesterday when she was dosed up on painkillers.” David grinned and his eyes crinkled at the corners. A waitress suddenly came out of nowhere and asked how many people.

“Just two,” I said to her.

“Not us?” A voice asked from behind us. Dr. Mills made me jump straight out of my skin for a moment, before I lightened up and turned to face her.

“Are you stalking me?” I asked her. I smirked at her, but her arms were attached to the shoulders of a small boy with big dark eyes and unruly curly hair. Behind her, her boyfriend had a hand clamping onto hers.

“I’m afraid not. We haven’t been to the restaurant before.” I smiled and nodded, quickly turning back around and following the waitress to where she led David and I. We were sat in a corner of the room, diagonal from where Regina was sat.

David and I chatted about silly college stories, but I couldn’t focus very hard when Regina was so close in my line of sight. My mouth hurt from smiling, but I was having so much fun with him. We looked through our menus and found what we were going to eat. A waiter came to take our order after little waiting time.

“I’d like the french onion soup,” I ordered.

“I’d like the Spicy Chorizo Linguini,” David said. The waitress wrote our order down and left in a scurry, while we continued talking about David’s twin brother. Conversation came easily, even if I couldn’t focus on David’s face —instead watching Regina—so it didn’t take long for our food to arrive. I let David try my soup and he gave me a forkful of pasta. I felt a pair of eyes on me when we were eating and figured I was being silly.

Halfway through the dinner, one of our pagers went off. I checked mine, while David checked his. I dug around my purse and felt the vibrating pager in my hand.

“It’s mine,” I groaned. I pulled it out and checked the small screen on top. “Shit, it’s my patient from this afternoon!” I exclaimed. I got up at the same time as Regina from across the room, which means she was paged too.

“I’ll come with you,” David said, wiping his chin with a napkin before standing up.

“I’ll take her with me,” Regina said hurriedly, pulling my arm to get me to hurry. I thanked David for the dinner and apologized for leaving, before running outside with my jacket sleeve halfway up my arm, Regina sprinting in front of me, hands in her jacket pocket.

She unlocked the car and jumped into the drivers seat, starting the car immediately. I climbed in beside her and yelled at Regina to buckle her seatbelt as she pulled out of the parking lot. She rolled her eyes and parked the car to buckle her seatbelt before screeching out of the lot.

“Do you know what’s going on?” I asked.

“I’m not sure, the nurse who paged didn’t specify what was happening.” I bit my lip in distraught thought, trying to figure out what went wrong.

“Are we even going to get there in time? The hospital is way across town.”

“Good thing I’m a fast driver,” Regina muttered. My mouth fell open and I turned to face her, appalled. “Relax, I was joking. We’ll get there. Traffic isn’t usually bad on a late Tuesday night.” I nodded and rubbed my hands together nervously.

“We’re you actually stalking me? At the restaurant?”

“Of course not. Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know,” I mumbled back.

“Frankly, I didn’t know you were going on a date, much less with a man.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, I just thought that since you had told me that…”

“…Oh. No, I like both,” I stuttered slightly. She scrunched her nose in thought and nodded.

I barely let Regina park the car before I was leaping out the door and running for the hospital entrance. Regina was farther behind me, locking her car.

I ran straight through the lobby and to the elevator, holding the door open for Dr. Mills. The hospital was nearly deserted, aside from a few nurses, doctors, and family members just leaving after visiting hours. Dr. Mills slid into the elevator and repeatedly pressed the elevator button, clenching her jaw as she did so. I swore I felt the elevator stall on the way up, but it didn’t stop.

We both sprinted off the elevator, too rushed to go to the locker room and change into scrubs. We pulled off our jackets and threw them on a nearby gurney and asked the nurses what happened.

“He complained about a headache, then he said he felt nauseous. He started seizing before we could check him out. He lost consciousness during the seizure and hasn’t woken yet.”

“Have you checked his pupils?” Dr. Mills demanded from her, the bite in her voice making the nurse jump slightly.

“Yes, his pupils were dilated. We ordered an MRI scan and we’re just getting ready to take him.

“Good. Where are his parents?”

“In the waiting room.”

“Dr. Blanchard, talk to his family, we’ll take him for his scan.”

“Don’t go to surgery without me,” I told her, before running off for the stairwell. I didn’t have enough time to wait for the elevator, and I needed to exercise anyways.

His parents were in the lobby talking quietly to each other, sleep clearly forgotten.

“Dr. Blanchard.” The woman and her husband looked up and stood. “Is Ben okay?”

“He’s getting an MRI done to see what the problem is, and once we find out, we’ll take him to surgery. He isn’t currently conscious.” Their faces both collapsed and they suddenly looked years older. “I’ll inform you of our progress when we get to surgery.” They both nodded and sunk back to their chairs. I hesitated, before turning back to the elevator and running to the MRI.

Dr. Mills was behind the glass window, frowning at the computer and bouncing her finger up and down.

“How is he doing?”

“The scans are still loading. What’d you tell the parents?”

“I said he wasn’t conscious, he was getting a scan, and I’ll tell them about everything we know when we find out.”

“Good.” Regina kept tapping the counter until I put my hand over hers to stop it.

“Relax. Whatever this is, we’ll stop it.” The scans slowly appeared on screen, revealing his brain inch by inch, and as soon as the image appeared, Dr. Mills gasped loudly.

“He’s got a blood clot, prepare OR 3. Dr. Blanchard, you’re scrubbing in.” I nodded and jumped from my chair, but turning around quickly.

“Do I have enough time to change?”

“No, you moron, he’s clotting. Get your gown on and suck it up.”

“But this is a new dress,” I mumbled to myself before darting to the scrub room to pull on my gown and cap. Regina joined me when I was scrubbing my hands.

“We need to hurry or he’s going to have a stroke, or worse.” I nodded and dried my hands, pulling on my mask and dashing into the OR. Regina followed and pulled on her gloves, before hastily requesting a pair of stitch scissors l before she reached my side at the table. It was in that very moment I realized I was screwed, with her almost-black eyes staring me down, her hair tied back in a neat ponytail away from her face, and barking orders to everyone in the room.

Before she could remove his sutures, the heart monitor beeped a high noise continuously. A sliver of silence fell over the room, before Dr. Mills ordered paddles and the room erupted into sheer panic. I pumped at his chest in a rhythmic beat, while Dr. Mills still yelled for the paddles. I ripped open his gown and pumped harder, feeling a rib crack under my hands, but that wasn’t important. Dr. Mills placed the defibrillation pads on his chest and reached for the paddles.

“Charge to 300,” Dr. Mills shouted. “Clear!” I took my hands off his body and waited for the shock to arch his back and collapse him to the table again.

“Charging again,” Dr. Mills said again. “Clear.” He was shocked again, but no beat registered on the heart monitor.

“Starting CPR,” I said, continuing the steady beat. My arms got heavier and my lungs constricted against my chest as time went on.

“Dr. Blanchard, it’s been three and a half minutes,” Dr. Mills informed. My shoulders slumped and I pumped his chest once last time before sighing and removing my hands.

“Call it.”

“Time of death, 22:36,” Regina sighed. All I wanted to do was hug her and say ‘we can’t save them all.’


	5. Toss Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please send feedback, stay safe, and I hope you enjoy!

I noticed that every time we had a patient die on us, Dr. Mills got much more irritable, but I guessed it was because she blamed herself. That was just my guess, though. I wouldn’t get offended if she blamed me, but it would still hurt. It seems like her opinion of me is just going downhill from an already low point.

Dr. Mills was informing the parents, while I was freshening up in the bathroom. While I was leaving, Dr Mills burst through the doors and bumped her shoulder with mine rather forcefully on her way to a stall. I was halfway down the hall when I realized I left my phone on the counter. I opened the door and immediately registered the sobs coming from the stall at the end. I grabbed my phone and inched closer to the stall.

“Dr. Mills? Are you okay?” The crying stopped.

“Get out this instant,” her hoarse voice replied.

“Is there any way I can help you?”

“There _is_ a way. Leaving this bathroom before you emerge from the building in a body bag is an excellent start. I didn’t think you were even more stupid, but now you’re proving me right. If I have to reiterate, _leave.”_ I left hurriedly and I realized when I got to the stairwell that I was running. I walked briskly down the stairs and into the lobby, where David was sitting with two styrofoam containers on his lap. The sky outside the windows were beyond dark, which made the lobby look even more unwelcoming.

“Hey. I thought we could take the food back to my apartment.”

“I’m tired, David. I’m sorry. I just want to go home.”

“I understand.” He knew what happened with the boy by just looking at me. “Would you be up for a second date then?” I bit my tongue.

“I don’t think so. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time. It’s just that I don’t think we can be anything more than friends.”

“Okay. See you around, Blanchard.”

“You too, Nolan.” I hoisted my purse up my shoulders and made a beeline for the exit. In the reflection of the window, I saw Dr. Mills behind me, looking as put-together as she was when she came in tonight. The only thing out of place was her glassy eyes. I waved to her over my shoulder and pushed the door open, trying to navigate the parking lot in minimal lighting.

“You took a ride with me. Remember?” Dr. Mills’s voice said coldly from behind me. I smiled tightly and nodded.

“I forgot. Goodbye Dr. Mills.”

“Where are you going?”

“Home?”

“Walking after midnight? Where it’s dark and you could be mugged, or worse?”

“That’s my only option.” Dr. Mills sighed.

“Can’t you take a hint?” My eyebrows knit together. “Get into my car.”

“That’s really not neces-“

“Get in my car or I’ll force you in.” I sighed and complacently followed her to the black Mercedes we arrived in. I closed my door and watched her silhouette through the windshield. The car suddenly started, and it took me a second to realize I was staring at the truck in front of us for a minute. She smiled at me when she noticed I jumped, but her smile had a scary edge to it. Dr. Mills is just a scary person. I wondered if she wears costumes during Halloween because she doesn’t need one if she just looks scary all the time.

“I do wear Halloween costumes, thank you. Frankly, it’s not the costumes you would think, at least before med school.” I cursed myself.

“I said that? Out loud?”

“No, I read your mind.” I fell silent and gave Regina an appalled look. “God, you really _are_ tired.” I laughed without an ounce of humor to my breathless voice. _Of course she was joking._ If she wasn’t, I would’ve been screwed from the beginning. “Where am I driving to?”

I listed off my address and watched out the window as the familiar darkened streets of town whizzed past the window. “Listen, in the bathroom—“

“Nothing happened.”

“What?“

“You will stay silent.”

“Or what?”

“I will—“

“You can threaten me all you want, you don’t scare me.” The car pulled up to the apartment and Regina cut the engine.

“You _should_ be afraid of me. I may not look like it, but I can end you, both physically and otherwise. You think these are just empty threats, but I can assure you they are anything but. So if I were you, I’d take my advice and not mention this to anyone for the rest of your life, or you will find it ending very soon. Have I made myself clear, Miss Blanchard?”

“Crystal.”

“Then leave this vehicle. Now.” I scrambled around for the door handle and yet I couldn’t get out quick enough. Cold chills ran up my spine.

By the time I got inside, I was feeling terrified to sleep.

“What the hell? Do I need to corner David in an alley?” Emma ran from the kitchen to the doorway and took in my paler-than-normal complexion. “What the fuck happened to you?”

“It’s not him, that’s a different conversation. It’s a long story, but Regina and I had a patient and we got called in and she gave me a ride there and then back. It ended with her threatening me.”

“Okay, so what’s the big deal? She speaks in threats. I think it’s her second language,” Emma said.

“Yes, but this one was worse tenfold.”

“How so?” Kathryn asked.

“I said she didn’t scare me, but then she said that I should because she is capable of ending me, then she said these threats were very much real.”

“Shit.”

“What spurred this on?”

“She swore me to secrecy on what we were talking about. That’s why she threatened me.”

“She has no right to threaten you.”

“Emma—“

“What the fuck is wrong with her? Is she deranged?”

“Possibly. She seems like it,” Kathryn mused.

“It’s always the hot ones that are batshit crazy,” Emma muttered. “Now what happened with David?”

“It didn’t work out. He was very sweet, but we can’t be anything more than friends.”

“Movie night then?”

“It’s 1:30 in the morning,” Kathryn deadpanned.

“Tomorrow morning then!” Kathryn and I grumbled. “Good! I have big plans with my stash of horror movies and those store-bought Halloween cookies.”

“The Pillsbury ones? I didn’t think those came out until October,” Kathryn said.

“Yeah, those are the only good Halloween cookies.”

“What about mine?”

“Okay, Mary Margaret’s cookies come in second, but those pumpkin ones win my heart every day.”

“I still don’t understand how you can be an excellent baker but a shitty cook,” Kathryn muttered to me.

“I don’t know, but I’ll take a win when it appears. For now, I’m gonna head off to bed.”

“Me too. Goodnight, MM.”

“Night, Kath. Night Emma.”

——————————————————

I was so ready to face Regina, but just as I was finished changing, Regina informed the locker room that Killian was to go with her today, meaning I was stuck with Dr. Hopper all day. I had nothing against Ortho, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Unlike Peds, and unlike Regina Mills.

He didn’t have any surgeries scheduled for the day, so we were catching up on patients’ paperwork, case files, and ending the day in the record room.

“What’s got you down?” Kathryn asked during lunch.

“I have nothing against ortho, but I miss Peds. I miss the sick kids and I miss the tiny little surgeries on the tiny little patients.” Emma burst out laughing.

“It’s a nice way to put it, but kids are fucking demons.” Kathryn tilted her head and smirked at Emma.

“Bad experience on Peds or something?”

“No. The kids in my foster homes were terrible to me.” I smiled at Emma. She always mentioned her foster homes and rough past as a joke. She never took it seriously anymore and only looked back on her past with humour in her heart. I never found it quite as funny as she did, but we have very different senses of humour.

“Again with the foster homes? What are you trying to earn pity points for?” Kathryn asked.

“Why do you think I’m up to something when I mention my orphaned past?”

“Because you said so yourself that you don’t take it seriously anymore.”

“I don’t have anything to use pity points _on.”_

“Nobody actually knows that yet except for you.” Our conversation was interrupted by a smug Killian.

“So, Blanchard, how’s Ortho?” Killian sat down beside me.

“It’s fine,” I answered pensively. Killian already knew I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I let on.

“Don’t worry, I don’t find Peds very interesting either.”

“It’s not that, ortho’s okay, it’s just that it’s not my cup of tea.”

“Let’s hope Dr. Mills takes you off the back burner, then.”

“I wasn’t _put_ on the back burner.”

“You’ve been on her specialty for three weeks straight, since we started residency. I’m pretty sure you’re on the back burner.”

“If so, she has no reason to toss me to the side.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” He chuckled.

“Whatever you say, Flash.” I glowered at him while he focused on his food.

“You’re one to talk, _Hook,_ I heard Dr. Mills chewing you out in the hallway today,” Emma said.

“Hey, that was _one_ time, and it’s not my fault she was irritated today.”

“It must’ve been if she was telling you not to play with your stethoscope to entertain the kids.”

“And it may have only been one time, but you’re never gonna live getting a surgical hook stuck in your finger down,” Kathryn added. Emma chortled and Killian grumbled.

“I was an intern. As to entertaining the kids, what else was I supposed to do, the kid loved my stethoscope.”

“Knowing your history, you shouldn’t be allowed to handle a q-tip,” Emma jabbed.

“Again, just one time.”

“But it was still the greatest thing I’d ever witnessed,” August said as he sat down. David agreed and flashed me a quick smile before adding onto the story with:

“I think it’s safe to say Dr. Mills doesn’t like you.” I felt a stab of pride at that, but kept to myself as the table argued lightly amongst themselves.

I caught Dr. Mills’ eyes from two tables away. She rolled her eyes and went back to picking at her salad. I’m sure she’s never dealt with residents as loud and immature as we were. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stop! Wait wait wait wait wait, I need your help! I need help deciding where the hospital is located. I don’t think Storybrooke would work with this fic, so the two places I’m considering are Manhattan and Boston. I personally prefer the story to take place in Manhattan, but I would like to know where you want it. I’ll tally the votes before I start the next chapter. Thank you for your participation! :)


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